Lets Party!!

We had a hall reception party yesterday and there was a fabulous variety of food cooked by the enthusiatic residents. Spanish Paella, curry chicken, Japanese soya chicken, steamed pork in black bean sauce, chicken rice, korean vermicelli salad, delicious thai nibbles that I've never seen before, sweet corn salad, canadian maple-sourcream with sweet potato, lots of drinks, and clotted cream cake are just a sample of the dishes we had. There are some which I can't put a name to, so I left them out. I guess this is what makes staying in an international hall so enjoyable.



My contribution was the ever popular but humble agar agar, which came out looking dirty green instead of bright green because I forget about the colour effect brown suger has (not shown, cos too ugly but the hall people didn't mind cos I guess they have no idea what agar agar should looks like *LOL*) And also the hainanese chicken rice (pictured above, the 3 trays garnished with cucumber) which took me and WY 5 hours to prepare.

I owe my successful maiden attempt to this wonderful recipe from the website:
http://www.recipezaar.com/133760

Their fresh chili and ginger sauce is so easy to prepare and taste absolutely fantastic. Don't save on the lime, especially for the ginger sauce. I didn't know beforehand that adding chicken stock would make such a great and positive difference to the taste and I highly recommend chili lovers to try making it!

Many thanks to Elgin for lending me his big pot - opps, still in my room - ah well, hope he is not in urgent need for it.

Happy Halloween too!! Wonder if there will be any early fireworks tonight. =)

Hair Growing Diary no more

Xiao mai cao tou did have an enviable crown, but her nutritious scalp also attracted exotic species of green and grey mould. Regretfully, I had to say goodbye to my dear little friend.
Well, to be PC, it was a matter of circumstances, as I have no idea how to eradicate those spore spewing growths and my immune system is barely coping with the newest onslaught of flu viruses. (How cruel!! *sob sob* I still can't believe I did it!) She was a great companion and I had fun taking care of her while it last. To preserve her dignity, I shall not post any last pictures.

ps: MX, I'm so sorry I failed to sustain her for a year.

Accidentally branded

Check out my 127 degree celcius hexnut scar. (Hmm... the hexagon not really obvious here)


This is an exemplary demonstration of why lab coats should always be worn,
Even for a quick 1 minute job of removing jigs from ovens.
Gloves are inadequate if they do not reach the elbows.

I realise that burn marks do not go away quickly.
I got that 5 days ago and it seems to like my skin alot.
I hope it is not thinking of applying for PR.

In my attempt to find a picture of a hexnut for the benefit of those who can't tell apart peanuts, coconuts, cashewnuts, and inedible nuts, I came across this cartoon...

Code Red

OFFICE ON ALERT! SICK MAN LURKING AROUND!

Last Sunday:
At 10pm, a MAN was walking down the flight of stairs that can lead nowhere else but to my office only. My friend was on his way up and out and threw him a curious stare. THE MAN turned and trailed my friend all the way out. My friend thought he was saved when they bumped into security, and reported that he did not know this guy who was following him. But THE MAN acted like he was with my friend and they are good buddies fooling around, so the security guard did not take my friend seriously.

Previous week:
My colleague's undergraduate brother and friends were approached by THE MAN in the common computer lab. THE MAN claimed that he was a postgrad. THE SICK MAN asked if they will like to get together sometime for some sick pleasure. Of course my friend's brother declined.

Last night:
At around half past 8pm, THE SICK MAN appeared again. He walked into the office and was stopped by the same friend who was followed on Sunday. When asked what he was doing there, THE SICK MAN said he was a final year undergraduate on exchange program and as a student he can access any room in the college he likes. He couldn't produce a student ID. He did comply by stepping out of the office, but did not leave immediately. He then asked my friend privately if he can let him "**** his ****". Other than my offended friend, only W and I (both ladies) were still working in the office, so we decided to lock ourselves in and also left college together after that.

Because I've been working in the lab, and also sitting at the far end of the office, I've not seen THE DISGUSTING AND SICK MAN personally and only know that he is about 1.65m tall and looks oriental.

It is quite usual to find spare/odd rooms being turned into offices for postgrads here. In my department for instance, PG offices can be found in rooms hidden behind the laboratories, the reprographic room or on the roof level abut the boilers. Hence, like most postgrad offices, mine is also quite a well hidden secret. No one else other than the 20 people working here, the cleaners, and an occasional student on appointment would come in here. Usually we keep an eye out for strangers because things have been stolen from this office before and there are also digital equipments and micro-processors sitting around.

We think it is quite unlikely that THE MAN was just prowling around for like-minded homo-friends. His lewd suggestions may just be a diversion so that he can check places out. It'll not be difficult to break into my office now as building contractors have torn down the wall on the south-end and there are paved scaffoldings outside the north-end windows. In any case, the stairs leading to my office is also a fire escape route that leads two more floors down to a dead end unless one breaks the fire alarm. And no one ventures there - normally. If someone hides there, nobody knows. That's the real danger and that's what I worry about. Since he had unabashedly expressed his preferences, the masculine population in my office have to be really careful as well.

Goggle Trouble

Another reason to go back to my tropical sunny paradise...

I broke my specs during shower (sigh... again...) a few weeks back and went to check the price of making a new one today. Below is a break down of the cost of making a pair here...

Eye check-up: 18 pounds
1 pair of lens: 250 pounds (for super thin lens, coz I'm more than half-blind and if the lens are any thicker I'll be wearing goggles...)
An additional pair of corrected sunglasses: 29 pounds (might as well get, otherwise 'bo-hua' [not economical])
Frames: I forgot to ask, but lets presume it is 50 pounds

So total cost (1 glasses + 1 sunglass)
= 18+250+29+50
= 347 GBP
= 1041 SGD !!!

Well, that's almost 1 month rent and I can fly home with that kind of money or sponsor a (erhm...) someone to fly over. Make more sense to save up for my convo yah? Nonetheless, I was intrigued to do an online search for the cost of LASIK procedure at SNEC and if I go for the wave-front guided LASIK, it'll cost me 3275 SGD (1092 GBP). My college friend, D, just went for the procedure in a private clinic in London for about 2000 GDP. So it is still cheaper back home.

Abiding by the scout motto, "Always be prepared" (see, TY, I did listen ok?), I never make camp overseas without my life saver, the same old fashion, gold rim, big frame, 1997 vintage glasses that I relied on in 2002 when the same accident happened. So I'm not walking around blindly when I'm home and I still have a comfortable 6 months lead time to restock my contact lenses for my daily activities. =) But every night, when I look into the mirror wearing that vintage goggles of mine, I can't help but laugh at my silly reflection and wonder how I survived looking like that back then.

It is always healthy to have a good laugh at the end of the day. =)

Nobel Inspiration

Today we had the honour of having Prof. Richard R. Schrock at Imperial for his very first post-Nobel lecture. The lecture was so over subscribed that YS, CY and I had to cram into one of the LT's aisle steps but it was worth the stiff limbs. He was in town by invitation to deliver the Sir Edward Frankland Award Lecture of the Royal Society of Chemistry, which is one of the highest honour to be awarded to any chemist in this part of the world. He was awarded this year's Chemistry Nobel Prize for his work on 'development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis'. I quote because I'm not chemistry-savvy and I won't do him justice if I don't get it correct, so there.

He didn't give a talk about the work he is now famous for, but did his uni a huge advertising favour by telling us that we can download the full lecture from the MIT website. (I did a google search, and there were over 200,000 hits on him, is this guy famous or what? *of course he is, he won a Nobel prize, silly!*) but he did entertain us with an excellent lecture on another brunch of his work which involves di-nitrogen reduction to ammonia via a postulated catalytic pathway which involves a complicated looped sequence of protons and electrons additions. Well, unfortunately that's as much as I understood anyway, this being my first chemistry lecture since 1997. :P He came up with the pathway and spent years (we are looking at 10-20 years?) proving it, and to date they have managed to isolate and prove the existence of 8 out of 14 intermediates and he reckons it'll take another 20 for this pathway to be fully characterised.

This is what amazes me. The ability of some researchers and scientists to keep themselves highly motivated and continuously interested in their work. Even though a certain part may have stumped them for years, they will revisit it eventually. Giving up and letting the problem rest is never their motto. Will I be able to spend my entire life proving a certain thing that perhaps I am the only one in the universe interested in it? There are so many scientists out there doing their thing, prodding along independently, poking at unanswered or unimportant issues that no one gives a damn for until a certain call at 5am in the morning congratulates them of their win and an hour later everyone wants to know you. How many people would remember Prof. Schrock or even Greg Miller (neuticles research) if they did not receive any Nobel prize or even an Ig Nobel prize? (for experiments that cannot or should not be repeated)

Meeting Prof. Schrock today brings back fond memories of a certain CivEng professor at Berkeley who finds it difficult to stop working over lunch. Whenever my project group visits him at lunchtime he would be happy for the audience and describe eagerly to us the recent topic of his research and his eyes would literally twinkle. We have to let him express all that excitement before we can get down to discussing matters that we came for. Needless to say, his lunch was usually forgotten. I used to think he was quite a workaholic but now I know better. There is huge a difference between working under obligation and working for new discoveries. Stress hormones drives the gears in the first but pure adrenaline gets the latter going.

I hope that one day I can have that adrenaline driven enthusiasm like my Berkeley professor and exhilarate in the experience.

Not too bad

Well well, this week did not turn out to be too bad after all. I survived the 20hr work days and the 6hr meeting. Just want to jump into bed and catch up on my sleep right now. Don't think I made any sense to talking to LP over dinner last night and my responses had a 3sec. delay but it was good to see her again.

Received one of NL's famous care packages mid-week too, and the snacks she sent fueled my work past midnight. Care packages (that's what she calls them) contain local food or items that can help ease homesickness. I remembered finding bottled soya bean drink and Qoo in the last package she sent. This time round there are 5 different sauces used in local dishes and she even sent me vitamins and two mooncakes!! Awww.... sweet isn't she? =) Although the full moon was weeks ago, I really appreciate it. Now my primary mission (after catching up on sleep of course) is to find some live crabs, a brave guy/girl who is not afraid to kill crabs, and cook chili crab with the condiments she has sent! hee hee... but crappy pple need not apply. =P

One of my friends will be acting the lead role for a play next weekend. Wonder how he finds time to juggle his sub-wardening duties, the rehearsals and his research at the same time. =) Sounds like fun! (check it out below)

Panic Attack

The start of the academic year is often a time to rejoice for me, as friends return from their summer holidays with stories to share, and the new school year promises of more activities to come.

However, this year also spells the end (I HOPE and DREAD with equal intensity) of my student life. I can't sleep. I feel that I've not been working hard enough. I've really not produced much to show for the past 2 years. There are so many thing I should have understood by now but I do not.

Suddenly, my life is filled with so many hows...
How can I finish my experiments in time?
How can I find time to read all the current papers?
How can I clear my backlogs?
How can I learn Abacus in 3 months and squeeze in modeling work?
How long do I actually need to finish?
How long should I extend my visa?
How can I find time to go to the gym when I knock off at 9 every night?
How can I maximize my time without suffering from fatigue?
How often can I turn down invitations without becoming anti-social?
How can I fulfill those promises to visit XX places with YY people?
How can I even think of having fun when there is work to do?
How can I find time to study?
How can I pass my viva?
How? How? How?

And then, there are also many 'I should have'...
I should have spent more weekends in college
I should have played less spider solitaire
I should have taken less time with my transfer report
I should have gone into the lab more often and not sit at my desk doing analytical work
I should have read more papers over the weekends
I should have just forget about politeness and pressurize people to deliver
I should have been more constructive with my time when waiting for materials to be delivered.

This is obviously a panic attack. (Maybe I'll make a better psychologist than a researcher)
I can anticipate a state of mental paralysis, a wave of depression, a sense of helplessness approaching. Hopefully, when the dawn breaks tomorrow I'll be too numb to feel, and can just get in to college to work, work, work, and deliver. Hopefully the equations I'm reading now will make sense and look less scary tomorrow. Hopefully.

Darn, I'm really tired. And this is only the 1st day of term.